Her hazel eyes, which air on the side of brown tonight, perfectly suiting her mocha blouse, ask a thousand more questions that even she seems to be unaware of.What if I’m not accepted? What if I don’t like it there? What if I’m too socially awkward to rule a country? What if…
I open out my hand to her across the wooden table as one of her cats meows from the corner of the room. She places her hand in mine without hesitation as a warmness fills my soul. “You are an amazing woman. And so strong. Capable. I know the thought of moving to a new country and becoming a queen is scary, but you are trying. I appreciate your effort. And for the record, I think you will be a brilliant queen and will adjust well to Korsa. Yes, there will be a spotlight on us, but I can get us from the airport to Stjarna Palace in secret. I can move us around that entire country in secret. No one even has to know you are there this weekend. That’s why I’d like for you to visit with me, even if it’s just for a few days. I would like to show you around. That way you can make a well-informed decision.” I don’t say that I desperately need her to stay with me, but man, I truly do.
She squeezes my hand before pulling away; a dazzling, toothy smile illuminating her expression despite the fact that she has darkspots under her eyes. “Do you really believe that about me, Finley?”
“Of course I do. Will you please come to Korsa with me?”
Her cat meows again, and Lorelei turns her attention to it. “What do you think, Frizzle? Do I take the prince up on his offer to whisk me away to another country?” The cat meows.
“See, even Frizzle agrees you should go.”
Lorelei narrows her eyes. “How do you know that was her yes?”
At that moment, Frizzle jumps into my lap and starts licking my chin with a sandpaper tongue. I gesture to the cat as Lorelei laughs and feigns a betrayed expression.
“Okay, okay. You’ve made your point. As long as we stay in secret outside your family, I will go with you. Oh, and one more condition.”
I arch an eyebrow, which is now back to its original golden blond color.
“Lucy comes with us. I need her. She has to be my constant in the midst of change.”
Biting my tongue to stop myself from saying, “But I can be your constant,” I nod. Then I actually say, “That can be arranged without issue. Plus, you know she’d love it.”
“Exactly,” Lorelei says before scooping another piece of chicken into her mouth. One day Lorelei will consider me her constant. I can tell I’m a safe place for her now, but I understand Lucy is her constant, her bridge back to home.
I spend the rest of the evening answering every question she has about the country, royal etiquette, and security protocols. We laugh, lightly touch, do the dishes together, use a laser to play withthe cats, and at the end of the night when I leave, she lingers in a hug, her gaze falling to my lips more than once. I lean in, but she stops me with a hand on my chest. At my obvious disappointment, she says, “I promise we will try soon. Just give me a little more time. I want it, I truly do.”
The fire blazing in her eyes verifies her words, and I take it as a win that she embraced me for a solid two minutes without pulling away once.
On the way home, I call my father to let him know that I’m getting on a plane Friday night with Lorelei and Lucy. And he informs me that he found out it was the original stalker who leaked the news that I would be hiking.
A stalker that finally came out in the open.
Who secured a job to spy at a place I frequented.
A woman who went by the name Selene.
And who, once caught, verified that she was not hired by Karin as we thought.
But by my own mother.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lorelei
“This is the only way I will fly from now on.” Lucy says after she picks her jaw off the ground. Or, more accurately, off the floor of our private jet.
No, not our.
Finley’s.
It’s not mine.
Yet.
Oh, hush up, brain.
The man has me wrapped around his finger. From his heroic rescue with the helicopters, to giving me space, then cooking me dinner and reassuring me verbally and with his presence that everything will be okay.
